A doctor prescribed so many painkillers, she's been charged with murdering her patients, authorities say
"A short time later, she was at a pharmacy, receiving what drug addicts call "the holy trinity" of prescription drugs: the powerful painkiller Hydrocodone, the anti-anxiety medication Xanax and a muscle relaxant known as Soma.
In total, pharmacists handed her 510 pills that day — all legal, because she had a prescription with the signature of her doctor, Regan Ganoung Nichols, scrawled at the bottom, according to a probable cause affidavit."https://www.washingtonpost.com, June 24, 2017

THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF CANNABIS AND CANNABINOIDS
"In the report The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research, an expert, ad hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine presents nearly 100 conclusions related to the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoid use. "http://nationalacademies.org, January 2017.

Berkeley's Free Weed for the Poor Program Isn't as Ridiculous as it Sounds
"But those criticisms ignore the fact that, despite California's lax laws, marijuana is a medicine. At the same time, because it's not legal on a federal level, insurance companies don't cover it. As The Times notes, that leads to a situation where people who would benefit from marijuana can't afford it. 'There are some truly compassionate cases that need to have medical marijuana,' Tom Bates, Berkeley's mayor, told The Times. 'But it's expensive. You hear stories about people dying from cancer who don't have the money'."The Wire, September 03, 2014.

Medical Marijuana Laws Linked to Fewer Opioid Deaths
"This finding suggests that some patients who used to get their pain relief from prescription opioid analgesics may be switching to medical marijuana now that it's available legally, and this transition may be associated with lower rates of mortality related to opioid overdose."Medscape Medical News, August 25, 2014.

AZ Judge Rules Pot Can Be Used for PTSD
"PHOENIX (AP) — A court ruling filed this week has added post–traumatic stress disorder to the list of debilitating conditions that qualify for medical marijuana treatment."Associated Press, June 07, 2014.

DEA targets doctors linked to medical marijuana
"US Drug Enforcement Administration investigators have visited the homes and offices of Massachusetts physicians involved with medical marijuana dispensaries and delivered an ultimatum: sever all ties to marijuana companies, or relinquish federal licenses to prescribe certain medications, according to several physicians and their attorneys.
The stark choice is necessary, the doctors said they were told, because of friction between federal law, which bans any use of marijuana, and state law, which voters changed in 2012 to allow medical use of the drug."Boston Globe, June 06, 2014.

Elderly Want More Help With Musculoskeletal Pain
""The goal of the management of chronic pain should be at least to bring it down to tolerable levels, and to avoid unnecessary suffering it is important to use comprehensive pain management strategies and to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment regularly in older patients,"Reuters Health Information, June 02, 2014.

M.S. Patients May Benefit From Yoga
"A yoga program designed specifically for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) improves walking ability, balance, fatigue, and general health status, and might even help control inflammation, a new pilot study suggests."Medscape Medical News, May 31, 2014.

American Academy of Pain Management
13947 Mono Way, #A
Sonora, CA 95370
Phone: (209) 553-9744www.aapainmanage.org
The AAPM is the largest multi-disciplinary pain society, and the largest physician-based society in the U.S. Site includes lists of pain management professionals and programs by area; info and FAQs on pain and pain management for both patients and professionals, and access to the National Pain Data Bank.

American Chronic Pain Association
P.O. Box 850
Rocklin, CA 95677
Toll-free: 1-800-533-3231www.theacpa.org
The ACPA is a non-profit group founded in 1980, with over 400 chapters in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, India, and Europe, offering support and education for those with chronic pain and their families, and raising awareness with legislators, health care providers, and the general public about the effects of living with chronic pain.

American Pain Society
4700 W. Lake Avenue
Glenview, IL 60025www.ampainsoc.org
The APS is a multi-disciplinary group of scientists, physicians, nurses, and others whose mission is to advance pain-relief research, education, and treatment. Site includes free "APS Bulletins" and other publications for download, searchable database of Pain Treatment Centers by location, services, classification, and setting (ie, home, hospital-based, outpatient, etc.).

Pain Project
Compassion & Choices Federation
6312 SW Capitol Hwy #415
Portland, OR 97239
Phone: (503) 221-9556https://www.compassionandchoices.org/news/pain-management/Compassion In Dying project aimed at both assisting those suffering intractable pain due to inadequate pain treatment by physicians, and activist components geared toward ensuring physicians are not deterred from same due to regulatory fears, as well as providing legal advocacy for patients and their families.

The Pain Research Institute
Clinical Sciences Centre
University Hospital Aintree
Lower Lane
Liverpool, L9 7AL
United Kingdom
Phone: 0151 523 1486www.liv.ac.uk/pri/
The Pain Relief Foundation is a UK charity which funds research into the causes and treatment of human chronic pain and is concerned with education of doctors and nurses in pain management.